Grace and Eric’s rustic October wedding started out rainy, but the cloudy weather made the colors of their bright florals even more vibrant! River Farm is one of our favorite venues – as the home of the American Horticultural Society, it is filled with beautiful gardens and vistas and is a flower lover’s dream. The bride carried a loose, draping bouquet in peach and ivory tones, accented with deep purples and burgundies, and filled with unusual textures. Flowers included ‘Juliet’ garden roses, pale pink ‘Sweet Eskimo’ roses, white stock, and stunning ‘Cafe Au Lait’ dahlias, studded with eggplant calla lilies, burgundy scabiosa, seeded eucalyptus, burgundy agonis foliage and trailing jasmine vine. The bridesmaids carried similar bouquets with slightly more touches of the deep purple.

Photo by Mantas Photography

Photo by Mantas Photography

Photo by Mantas Photography

Photo by Mantas Photography

While the groom’s boutonniere included a rose from the bride’s bouquet, the rest of the men’s boutonnieres simply featured the lush greens that were woven throughout the wedding. Perfect!

Photo by Mantas Photography

Photo by Mantas Photography

Photo by Mantas Photography

Photo by Mantas Photography

Photo by Mantas Photography

Photo by Mantas Photography

Photo by Mantas Photography

We loved the hand made signs that the bride and groom provided to us to put in the large floor standing urn arrangements to direct guests between the ceremony and reception. They really added a unique touch to this adorable wedding! And nothing beats a gorgeous table centerpiece of spilling greens and lush textures in a silver mercury glass bowl. Love showcasing those amazing dinner plate ‘Cafe Au Lait’ dahlias!

Jessica and Lawrence planned a whirlwind wedding – we met with Jessica’s mother to discuss flowers just a month before the wedding! But it was pretty as a picture nonetheless. Jessica’s bridal bouquet was filled with the soft romantic textures of Cafe au Lait dahlia, peach and pale pink roses and stock with a hint of clean-lined modern with white mini- calla lilies and orchids. The bridesmaids’ bouquets featured a mix of light pink and white rose,s dahlia, stock, lisianthus and callas – all perfect choices for a summer wedding.

Photo by Iris Mannings Photography

Photo by Iris Mannings Photography

Photo by Iris Mannings Photography

The ceremony took place at the Dunbarton Chapel at Howard University, where two lush floral designs flanked the couple while they took their vows.

Photo by Iris Mannings Photography

Photo by Iris Mannings Photography

For the reception, the couple chose Cuba Libre Restaurant, kicking things up a notch with tropical-inspired designs of green and exotic blooms. Long tables featured garlands of nagi ruscus foliage. Glass cylinder vases featured a greenery mix of baby monstera leaves accented with aspidistra and touches of India tips. For small cocktail tables, contemporary-styled bud vases held simple white cymbidium or white phalaenopsis orchid blooms.

Could Laura and Ken’s wedding been more on-point with the use of greenery? We are seeing a surge of weddings embracing green, and this sure is one of them! Laura’s bridal bouquet featured a range of fall orange and burgundy tones accented with loose, lush, greenery varied in texture. Seeded eucalyptus, jasmine vine, and camellia foliage set the scene against which garden roses, spray roses, anemone, ranunculus, scabiosa, and dahlia stole the show. The bridesmaids carried similar, simpler bouquets. The boutonnieres were designed using white ranunculus accented with seeded eucalyptus, viburnum berries, and scabiosa pods finished with a rustic twine.

Photo by Kurstin Roe

Photo by Kurstin Roe

Photo by Kurstin Roe

Photo by Kurstin Roe

Photo by Kurstin Roe

The ceremony took place at St. Matthew’s Cathedral, with the wedding reception to follow at the Carnegie Institute. Balloons made for a playful entrance to the site, accented with jasmine vine which similarly adorned the menu board. Dinner tables were each centered with a glass footed bowl filled with a textured, loose mix of greens accented with garden roses, spray roses, ranunculus, anemone, scabiosa, and pods and berries. Long tables featured elegant lengths of seeded eucalyptus and salal garland. Small touches of flowers sparingly accented the garland. A similar garland adorned the bar.

We pride ourselves in working closely with our couples to create designs that are personal and stylish. With Brooke and Wayan, that was true – with some 2,300 miles between us! They had the challenge of planning a DC area wedding from the left coast, with the help of a planner and email. The expression on Brooke’s face when we presented her with her bouquet said we nailed it. The vision for the wedding was soft and romantic, with peach and cream tones accented with natural champagne and brown hues for an organic feel. To embrace the fall look, flowers were accented with dried seed pods and pheasant feathers. Brooke’s bridal bouquet featured Juliet garden roses, champagne roses, ivory spray roses, peach calla lilies, and pale pink lisianthus accented with scabiosa and dried lotus pods, dried wheat and seeded eucalyptus. Wayan wore an elegant garden rose boutonniere accented with wheat, feathers, and scabiosa pods. The bridesmaids’ bouquets were similar to the bridal, similar but smaller.

The ceremony took place on a beautiful fall day. A lush seed eucalyptus garland accented the archway at the site, further evoking the magic of a fall garden with touches of stock, roses, spray roses, dried what and lotus pods. Rustic bisque mason jars were filled with wedding flowers in shades of peach, champagne and ivory finished with rustic touches of wheat and seeded eucalyptus.

Entering for the reception, guests were treated with a bisque-toned urn filled with a lush design of hydrangea, roses, stock, and lisianthus in shades of peach, champagne, and ivory accented with rustic touches of wheat, lotus pods and pheasant feathers for a rustic flair. Centered on each of the tables, wood boxes were filled with similar hues and textures.

This Mother’s Day, we have something a little different to share. If you follow the blog, you can sense we tend to keep the personal and professional separate. Our work, after all, is about realizing our client’s visions and dreams, not about ourselves. We really embrace being “behind the scenes.” This Mother’s Day, though, we are delighted to share a project we collaborated on with photographer Rachel K Photography. She is doing a series on four “mompreneur” interviews in celebration of mothers who are also business owners. You can check out the feature on her blog. In the meantime, we toast all mothers and those who mother others this weekend and every day.

Brianna and Eli’s Willard wedding was full of sophistication and elegance. Against a palette of pale blues, crisp whites, champagnes and greens popped for a perfect early summer wedding. Brianna’s bouquet features white peonies, lilac, and roses accented with boxwood foliage. The bridesmaids carried simpler versions of the bridal bouquet further accented with green hypericum berries and light blue delphinium.

Photo by K. Thompson Photography

The ceremony took place in the wood panel-lined Willard room. The couple’s personal tallit was suspended above their heads, held in place by four simple white poles seated in a white planter box filled with green hydrangea. Tall glass vases of varying heights flanked the stage, each holding white pillar and floating candles.

Crisp bouquets in white flowers accented with boxwood foliage

Photo by K. Thompson Photography

The reception featured three styles of tables. The cool blue lighting case an ethereal glow on the room. Silver bowls featured lush designs of light blue hydrangea and delphinium, and white stock, roses and phalaenopsis orchids. Rectangle tables featured a line of square mirror-faced vases with light blue hydrangea, taper candles, and simple stems of white phalaenopsis orchids. Elevated tall, silver candlestick, lush rounded design of light blue and white hydrangea, stock, delphinium and roses completed the room.

Yikomi and Abdullah’s wedding at Oxon Hill Manor last fall was the picture of uniqueness, drawing inspiration from the bride’s mother’s Japanese heritage. Kimonos, umbrellas, bamboo containers, and rich Asian golds and reds dominated the wedding. We are so delighted, then to see the wedding featured on blackbride.com! Be sure to check out the full feature, but we have included some of our favorite images below.

How important is it that my florist has worked at my ceremony and reception sites before?

– Geri D.

Photo by Wendy Hickok Photography

Geri,

When meeting with new clients we are frequently asked if we have worked at their wedding sites before, so this is clearly a question that many brides and grooms consider when hiring vendors! Thanks for asking!

While it might seem initially that it is very important that a florist has worked at your site before you should first consider what you are hiring them to do for you. Certainly if you are having them install a floral wall, suspend a chuppah or other structure from a ceiling or otherwise attach or construct something on site that would require them to know the site’s policies, dimensions and needs, then yes, it will probably make their job much easier if they already know the site. In this way they will be better suited to recommend what will and will not work. But that is not to say they cannot learn these things in the time between when you initially meet with them and your wedding date. Additionally, even if they know the site already, if they have never been asked to hang something from the ceiling at this particular site, then they will still have to research how it will be done regardless.

Photo by Juliet Fradin Photography

Photo by Michael Bennett Kress

However, the truth is that very few weddings incorporate these kinds of installed elements. The vast majority of weddings ask their florist for fairly standard pieces – personal flowers (bouquets, boutonnieres), ceremony arrangements and centerpieces for the dinner tables. All of those pieces have standard locations that they are placed on. In a church, or even in a hotel ballroom that has been set up with chairs and an aisle for a wedding ceremony, there is usually a very clear location where the florist would need to place the altar pieces or construct the arch/chuppah. In a room set with tables for dinner, we simply place the centerpieces where the tables have been placed and dressed with linens and place settings. In essence, we simply follow where the caterer or hotel staff set up the tables and chairs. So, in that respect, no, it’s not really critical that we know how the site is set up.

Now perhaps you are asking this question from more of a decor perspective – do we know what the site looks like so that we can make recommendations on color and style that will match the site? While that might have some relevance, again, we ask you to consider what you are asking the florist to do. Are you going to ask them to suggest a color palette and look for your wedding flowers, or do you already have one in mind? Most of our clients come in with a style and palette already in mind, and ask us to help them design florals around that look. So, unless someone comes in as a blank slate, both style and color wise, and wants us to choose for them, or is hiring us for full planning to design the wedding from the site on up, the look of the wedding has typically been inspired by your site and personal taste long before we are a part of the decision making.

We hope that helps!

Do you have a question about flowers or wedding planning? Send us your question in the comment field or by email (to info@petalsedge.com, subject line “Ask the Florist”), and we’ll include it in a future round of Ask the Florist!

Emily and Mark hosted an intimate wedding at the Carnegie Institute. Warm shades of yellow brightened up what was otherwise a typical, December day. Emily carried a bridal bouquet of beautiful white and ivory peonies, roses, ranunculus, cymbidium orchids, and mini-calla lilies. Mark’s boutonniere featured a sleek and streamlined white mini-calla lily, while the rest of the men wore white ranunculus blossoms.

The ceremony took place in the stately rotunda. A simple white-poled chuppah provided the focal point for the ceremony. Each pole was seated in a white planter box filled with a lush design of hydrangea, stock, roses, and spray roses in shades of white and yellow. The couple’s tallit served as the canopy over the structure.

Elegant, long tables dressed in a beautiful gray and white patterned linen extended the length of the ballroom in three rows. Two rows featured a collection of white vases of varying heights, each with monobotanic designs in shades of yellow. The vases were interspersed with sleek, glass vases with a white phalaenopsis orchid stem. On the center table, the collection of flowers was further filled in with a lush bank of hydrangea, stock, roses, and spray roses.